The Silver Staff
by DorothyNightingale
Summary: Ella is a normal middle school girl, or at least she thought she was. Ever since she met Lucas, the son of Hephaestus and found out about half bloods, everything has been upside down. Will she and be able to fit in at camp? This book takes place directly after The Blood of Olympus and may contain spoilers as well as a lot of Rick's characters. (Find out what happens to Leo.)
1. I Learn How to Face Time on my Sprinkler

**Chapter One: I Learn How to Face Time with my Sprinkler**

By Maddie

I'm a normal kid? Nope, not even close. I mean I thought I was up until the attack. I thought I was the most normal girl out there. I had lots of friends, straight A's, amazing parents and the most annoying little sister,Tallah. Yes maybe I used to have dyslexia but I overcame it years ago thanks to the private tutors my parents were able to hire. In fact, I can't believe I even thought they were my parents because we are nothing alike. Both my parents have red hair and so does my little sister but me, my hair was jet black. My parents had told me I was Irish which made sense at the time because my grandparents all spoke with a thick Irish accent but they couldn't name a single one of my relatives that had my striking black hair or even looked remotely like me. The black sheep, my grandfather liked to call me.

It was after school one day that I noticed something peculiar about the house. I was normally the first one home on a Tuesday. School got out at 3:30, Tallah was over at the elementary school and she stayed for art club Dad and Mom were both at work but Mom was always home earlier. The house was quiet and empty it wasn't until I plopped down on the couch and turned on my phone that I smelt something burning. At first I tried to stay calm and keep a level head. It's probably something minor I can fix, I thought, Mom probably left the stove on or cooked something for too long. I crept into the kitchen only to find to my horror a boy laying in a pile of broken glass with his pants singed and curly black hair covered with soot.

My first thought was to call 9-1-1 first the hospital then the police. Then the boy moved and groaned. I stared at him as his eyes blinked open.

"That..." he said groggily, "was awesome."

I stared at him for a moment unable to believe that the boy was conscious after crashing through my kitchen window.

"Who are you?" I asked. "What happened to your clothes?"

His attire was thoroughly burnt and orange shirt so singed that the writing on it could not be seen as if the boy had literally been engulfed in flames, but there was no way anyone could survive that.

"I'm Lucas," the boy said. "Don't worry fire can't hurt me," he suddenly stopped himself realizing that this must sound odd. "I mean, I'm sorry for smashing through your window," he said blushing slightly. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you why I had to do it."

I held up the phone. "I'm about to call the hospital. You shouldn't even be conscious. "

Lucas waved his hands violently. "No no, please don't. I'll fix your window just hear me out. I was only out for a few minutes and that's only because I hit my head-"

"You're not starting out too well," I said and I dialed 9.

"Wait," Lucas said. "If you can an ambulance they'll only see that I'm fine and you'll be in trouble."

"You want the police then," I said. "They'll see the broken glass and know you broke into my house."

Lucas bit his lip. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Then he drew a sword out of no where. It was a magnificent blade of made out of a coppery substance possibly dull gold or bronze. I stood a shaky step back and stupidly dropped the phone.

"What are you doing?" I said and the boy seemed surprised I even recognized the blade.

"You can see this?" He asked waving the sword dangerously close to my face. "It doesn't look like a feather or anything?"

I stared at him completely bewildered.

The boy recapped the sword and I saw it fall into a thin sheath that lay at his waist. "So," the boy said looking slightly amused. "You're either a mortal that can see through the mist or-"

"Would you just tell me what's going on?" I interrupted. "Why are you carrying a sword? What's all this mist business and how come you arn't burnt to a crisp?"

Lucas smiled at me as if viewing me in a new light. "I am a son of Hephaestus," he said proudly as if that was suppose to sound important.

I sighed half heartedly. "You've got to be joking," I said dismissively. "The blacksmith guy from Greek mythology really?"

"Except they're not myths," Lucas said. "Some of us, the children of the gods still practice the old ways because we know that the greek gods are real."

I raised my eyebrow.

Lucas shook his head. "Just last week we saved the whole world from the giants and the earth mother Gaea."

I was starting to think this guy had hit his head a little too hard. Earth mother Gaea? What was he talking about? Maybe he was part of a religious group I hadn't heard of or was still under the effects of almost being burned alive.

"Maybe you should sit down," I said guiding the boy over to the couch. "Do you want me to get you some new clothes? They would have to be my dad's." The boy was my age probably around middle school but very skinny and probably could have fit into Tallah's clothes.

"You don't believe me do you," Lucas said but he agreed to let me give him some new clothes.

I stepped out of the room to let him change but when I returned it was to another suprise. Lucas had made his way outside and had managed to turn on the sprinkler.

"You know we're in a drought," I said trying to turn off the faucet.

"Stop, I need to do this," Lucas said closing his eyes. In his hand he produced a golden coin. "Oh Iris goddess of the rainbow..." Lucas chanted.

This guy is crackers. I thought as he tossed his coin toward the sprinkler. Magically, it disappeared. Suddenly the water droplets changed and reflected another boy with similar features to Lucas he seemed surprised to see the other boy.

"Lucas you okay?" He asked. "Did the mission go alright?"

Lucas looked grave. "Hey Lando, I may of taken a few blows I shouldn't have and landed myself at some girl's house but the mission was a success."

"You're at a girl's house?" The boy, Lando exclaimed. "Does she know?"

I moved closer to Lucas and Lando must have seen me for he cried out. "What are you doing Lucas? You can't let a mortal girl see you send an Iris message."

Lucas smiled and shook his head. "That's why I called you Lando. If she was mortal she wouldn't be able to even see me Iris messaging you."

Lando seemed to think about this then realized what Lucas was saying. "She can't be one of us if that's what you mean," Lando said now sounding serious. "A satyr would have picked up her sent by now. She's just a mortal who can see through the mist, Lucas do you know what you've done?" Lando sounded panicked. "Tell the girl it was a nightmare or a dream I don't care just don't let Chiron find out you told a mortal about us."

"Standing right here," I said and Lando flinched.  
"Come on Lando," Lucas said. "Give her a chance. How do you know she's not a demigod."

"I already told you," Lando said. "Grover would have sent someone after her by now. We can't have mortals at our camp."

"What about Rachel," Lucas said. "She's a mortal."

"Was a mortal," Lando corrected. "Surely you know the difference between the oracle and some random girl who can see your iris message."

"Well I want to talk to Chiron," Lucas said indignantly.

"He's away remember," Lando said and Mr. D still on Olympus. I don't know if he's ever coming back. "Percy's in charge."

"Jackson?" Lucas sounded surprised. "I thought he was in New Rome."

"No Annabeth went instead, we're still waiting to hear back from her and Reyna."

"Fine then," Lucas said. "Put me on with Percy."

I was starting to wonder who this Percy was. I didn't remember him from any of the books I'd read about greek mythology.

Lando looked scared. "You can't just march up to Percy Jackson and tell him you want to let a mortal into camp. He's really busy."

"Fine then," Lucas said, sounding a little frustrated. "We're just going to march up to the border and see if she can get through."

He threw a rock at the sprinkler and the Iris message out leaving me staring at no more than water again. Confused and slightly thrilled I tried my best to compose myself.

"How did you do that?" I demanded.

"It's an Iris message," Lucas explained. "You throw one golden drachma into the water as an offering to Iris the rainbow goddess," he paused. "Now do you believe me about the greek gods?"

I didn't answer. Truthfully, I wanted to believe him but another part told me not to. It was completely illogical. There was no way the greek gods existed, someone would have noticed by now. Still there was that part of me that was still enchanted by what I had seen in the Iris message. It was no trick, we had really been talking to someone probably miles away. I marveled to think what else could be possible.

"I'll go with you," I said before I could change my mind.

Lucas seemed surprised that I would make up my mind so quickly. "You don't even know where we're going," he said the grin returning to his face. "It could be dangerous."

"I don't care," I said. All I wanted to do was see more magic.

"Okay... um," Lucas faltered and I realized he didn't even know my name.

"Ella," I said. "My name is Ella.


	2. I Meet Three Very Old Taxi Drivers

**Chapter 2 I Meet Three Very Old Taxi Drivers**

I felt guilty leaving my house in such a wreck. I knew my parents would freak if they saw a broken window and me gone so I left them a note explaining how I had seen the window and gone to Sarah's house because I had thought there might be a burglar in the house. Hopefully, I would be far enough away by then and my parents wouldn't know where to find me.

Did I second guess myself? Yes. Did I regret leaving? Never. I experienced my second life changing bit of magic when I saw Lucas using another drachma thing to summon a taxi out straight from the ground below. It scarred me but gave me a thrill more than anything else. Lucas opened to door for me and I slid onto the black leather seats only to see not one, not two but three old ladies driving the cab. It was even more of a frightening when I saw all but one had an eye. I tried to swallowed my fear and tried to hold my in my gut as the car sped off into the night at lightning speed. Lucas seemed unphased.

"So are you going to tell me where we are going?" I asked eventually and Lucas smiled.

"It's in Long Island," he said simply.

My jaw dropped. Long Island? That was all the way across America. How were we going to get there in a taxi?

The vehicle slammed to a halt and I bounced up against the screen. At once I wondered why we had stopped after only five minutes of driving.

"We're here," Lucas said sounding a little nervous himself. He payed the old ladies three golden drachmas and then they were gone in the blink of an eye, or one eye shared between three of them I guess.

There looked to be what must have recently been a forest fire. Many of the trees were burnt down or crushed and bent to the side. It was a sad sight really. What had use to be a bountiful forest was now reduced to several junipers and lots of burnt wood.

"You can see it can't you," Lucas said sadly staring at the bare forest ahead. "It's all because of those Romans who attacked us last Monday."

I blinked. "Don't tell me there are Roman gods too."

Lucas gave me a half smile. "There's a lot to learn, but first we need to know if you're actually one of us."

I blinked. "You mean if I'm not you're just going to turn me away after showing me all of this?"

I knew there was no way I could go back to living a normal life after seeing all this magic. There would be no more facetime if I knew somewhere in the world kids were contacting each other through a sprinkler system, no more bus rides if I knew I could summon a magic taxi by throwing a coin in the street. In the last hour my whole life had been turned upside down, there was no going back.

Lucas grimaced. "We'll see."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. I whirled around to see not one but three figures moving quickly into the forest. One of them had no pants on and where his legs should be, there were hooves and some sort of furry animal legs. I stared at him for a long time before realizing what the three where running from. In close pursuit was some sort of army, but they didn't look like an army I realized. Sure they were wearing militia uniforms but where there should have been flesh, there was only bone. I screamed as the figures veered right towards us and I could see the empty eye sockets of the dead soldiers. Lucas looked scared. He drew his bronze sword and slashed at one, instantly vaporizing it into dust.

"How did you do that?" I screamed. I felt like Clara from The Nutcracker as I took off my shoe and hit an oncoming soldier. It did nothing.

"Celestial bronze," Lucas called slashing the skeleton for me. "it instantly vaporizes monsters."

"Handy," I muttered.

The other two forms I had seen running with the goat man were human, one boy and one girl both around my age. They both looked scarred and trembling, probably how I looked at the moment as well. The girl was fair and blonde and the boy had dark skin and a thin face. I ran over to them and hid behind the goat man like a coward. My protection was limited though for the goatman drew a bow and with bronze tipped arrows shot at the skeletons, instantly dissolving them into dust. Two skeletons drew up to me and a sudden fear washed through my body. Lucas and Goatman were both locked in combat with three undead soldiers and more we're advancing. The soldiers drew their sword. This is it, I thought.

Then something happened. Something I had not been expecting. The soldiers stopped fighting and stayed completely still. Then, all at once the ground opened up for them and the fell the the cracks into infinite blackness. Lucas waved at a lone figure up on the hilltop but the figure did not wave back.

"That's Nico, son of Hades," Lucas explained. "Practically saved the whole camp on monday while the seven were out defeating the giants."

This of course made no sense to me. I was still shaking from the battle and didn't understand how Lucas could look so calm. We'd all almost died, including him. Those skeletons had looked so evil, I couldn't stand to think about it. The other two kids looked disturbed as well and were talking to each other in hushed whispers. The goatman checked to see if they were alright.

"No, we're not alright," the blonde girl said, which was exactly what I was thinking. "We nearly got killed. Are you going to tell us why were here now?"

The goatman looked like he was desperately trying to avoid the question. "Lucas," he said, turning to the son of Hephaestus. "I don't remember you becoming a satyr."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to prove a point and Lando wouldn't put me through to Percy. This is Ella," he said.

I tried to smile but it was like my mouth wouldn't move. I think I managed a small grimace.

"You were trying to contact Percy?" Goatman laughed. "You'd better pray to all the gods you're right about the girl. She does smell interesting."

"Excuse me?" I said to the Goatman.

"Just take it as a complement," Lucas said turning me away from him. "Who have you got Kyle?"

The goatman, who must have been Kile introduced the other two kids as Maggie and Jake. "Still not big three material," he muttered under his breath.

"They never are," Lucas said. "You shouldn't get your hopes up."

Kyle looked unpersuaded.

"The border then?" He said ushering his kids forward towards the big tree at the top of the hill where we had seen the boy who had saved us.

We approached the tree as a group. I noticed thick locks of golden wool had been draped over the tree, possibly growing from it's branches. There was a tall archway made out of wood and we all stood before it. Maggie and Jake went first, they slipped through with no problem. By then I had figured out that the archway must be the entrance to where ever we are going and only people with magic could pass through. Kyle and Lucas stepped through with ease, leaving me behind. I saw Lucas cross his fingers as I took a step forward towards the arch. He wanted this as badly as I did. I closed my eyes and ran forward, thinking I might crash into some invisible barrier, but I didn't. I ran straight someone and realized it was Lucas. There I was, safely through the border.


	3. I Run Into the Fashion Police

Chapter 3 I Run Into the Fashion Police

I opened my eyes and grinned. Lucas was smiling at me too. He had been right, I was one of them. Ahead of me I saw kids in orange shirts much like the one Lucas had been wearing, fencing with each other or talking and playing games. The area wasn't pretty I'll admit. Some of the buildings were destroyed and there were places where the ground had been scotched but I also saw kids rebuilding them and more goatmen trying to grow the grass back by playing on their reed pipes.

"Welcome to Camp Half Blood," Kyle said. "The only safe place for demigods in the world."

"Ah hem," Lucas scoffed raising an eyebrow.

Kyle raised his hands in defence. "Hey I'm not going to admit New Rome is safe. Those guys mean trouble."

"They surrendered and left," Lucas argued. "The only attacked us because of their bad leader Octavian or whatever."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Fine I don't care. This is one of the two places demigods or people like you three are safe. Soon you will all be claimed by your godly parents blah blah blah. Once you've been claimed, you will be sorted into a cabin where you will live and train with your brothers and sisters."

"I'm an only child," Jake said.

Kyle shook his head. "No you're the son of some greek god and since the greek gods have lots of kids you have lots of siblings. Tell me, who lives with you, you're mom or your dad?"

"Dad," Jake replied. "How did you know my mom left?"

"Everyone here has a missing parent or two. Now we know that you're related to one

of the goddesses. I think we can rule out Athena."

Lucas nudged him playfully but something with me didn't settle right. I had two parents not one and as far as I knew neither one of them had ever been married to anyone else. And if they weren't my real parents was Tallah my real sister or their real child?

Lando, the boy I had seen through the Iris message approached us looking scarred. "She made it then?" He said, not meeting my eye. "You actually found another one all by yourself?"

Lucas nodded and pumped his fist. "Told you I was right."

Lando bit his lip. "Parce is looking for you," he said. "You have to explain your mission to him yourself. He doesn't believe me when I tell him you succeeded. He wants to see you're actually alive."

"Parce," Lucas muttered. "He has no faith, no faith. Lando will you show Ella and the others around camp, Kyle you probably have a lot of paperwork to do."

Kyle nodded and they both went off in opposite directions.

Lando was a scrawnier version of Lucas but had the same black hair and nervous grin. I assumed the both must be from the same cabin. He stared at us for a moment before proceeding.

"Okay," he said. "Um did they already do the speech about you being children of the gods and stuff?" He asked.

"Yeah," Maggie said, "but I don't understand how the claiming works. I mean how will be know who are parent is?"

The three of us erupted in a collective gasp as ten doves suddenly flew out of no where and landed on Maggie's shoulders. Maggie herself was startled.

"Like that," Lando said. He reached out his finger and the doves started to violently peck him. "Yep, definitely Aphrodite," he said and drew back his finger. "I'll have Lacy show you your cabin in a second." Lando then stared at both me and Jake as if expecting us to erupt into flames. Neither of us did anything. "Okay then," Lando said shuffling forward. "As you can see are camp is still recovering from battle. Over there is where the strawberry fields used to be but the Romans trampled them during their siege."

I looked over and saw Maggie blushing fiercely and taking tiny steps with the doves on her shoulders. She looked a little overwhelmed and her entire face was a bubblegum pink. I would feel the same why if I'd just found out my mother was a greek goddess. I tried to remember, Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty and her sacred animal was the dove. That didn't seem to bad. I started to think I wouldn't mind being her daughter as well. Part of me was wanting to get claimed because the curiosity was almost too much to handle. I wanted to know which one of my parents had been lying to me and why I had never known before now. There was a whole other world out here I realized and I had never even known about it.

When we finally ran into Lacy, Lando had just finished showing us the Big House where the camp meetings took place. She had been sitting on the porch with several more Aphrodite kids. They were all giggling with each other and pointing at people as they passed by. Lacy ran over when Lando called her and stared at Maggie, the doves still settled firmly on Maggie's shoulders seemed to attract the attention of the other Aphrodite girls as well.

"Another one?" Lacy seemed surprised. "I'm Lacy," she said, coaxing one of the doves off of Maggie's shoulders. As it flew away if left a trail of what seemed to be glitter that settled in Maggie's hair. "Welcome to Camp Half Blood, did you come with these two?" Lacy asked, looking at me and Jake.

Maggie shook her head. "Jake and I knew each other from school sort of. He was in some of my classes but we both knew the history teacher, Kyle I guess."

"And this is," Lacy said, looking at me.

"Ellie," Maggie faltered. "No Ella right? We just met."

Lacy looked at Lando. "Three new half bloods in one day and right after the attack too. If Maggie and Jake were spotted by Kyle then how did Ella get here?"

I felt the other Aphrodite kids shift their gaze to me. Immediately I could spot them as the popular girls and did not want them to think there was something wrong with me.

"Lucas," Lando sighed and Lacy looked confused. "Nevermind," he said. "He's back by the way. His mission was a success."

Lacy looked relieved. "I'll tell Piper she'll probably find out though at the council meeting tonight. I feel kind of bad stepping down. Piper deserves it though of course."

"Oh right I forgot," Lando said. "You're not the cabin leader anymore."

"Have you guys-" Lacy began but stopped herself.

Lando looked serious all of a sudden. "It's okay, I never knew him. Leo was suppose to be our cabin leader but well... of course."

There was an awkward pause that left me wondering why there had been so many changes in leaders. Lando couldn't mean that Leo had died could he? Maybe Piper and Leo were part of that team of demigods Lucas said had defeated the giants. That sounded pretty dangerous.

"Where is Piper anyway?" Lando said, breaking the silence.

Lacy shrugged. "I haven't really seen her around a lot. I'll show you the cabin anyway Maggie. Girls, want to come?"

I looked from Lacy to Lando then back to Lacy.

"Can I come?" I asked. For some reason I didn't feel like spending the rest of the day with a boy who kept sending me nervous glances like I wasn't meant to be there and might get him in trouble.

Lacy and the girls laughed and I felt a little embarrassed but they said sure and I followed.

We approached the circle of cabins made of all different material and different but similar styles. I knew the Aphrodite cabin at once because it looked like a barbie log cabin play set. The wood was painted pink and the windows had white frills around them. On the door there was a big white number 10.

"Home sweet home Maggie," Lacy said leading us to the door.

Inside the cabin there were several bunk beds lined up against the wall and I wasn't surprised to see a runway smack in the middle. Lights were hung from the ceiling that projected pink and yellow color onto the black floor. Behind it was a door labeled 'Community Closet'. I had never seen so much pink in my life.

"Piper," Lacy said, addressing the girl in the back of the room. "We have a new camper."

The girl turned around and saw me and Maggie standing shyly by the door. "Two?" she asked.

Lacy shook her head. "Just Maggie." Maggie waved her hand.

Piper gave her a warm smile. "Oh, well then welcome to cabin 10. You can take that bunk. It use to be mine before I became cabin leader. Speaking of which, Lacy do you know if there's a meeting tonight?"

Lacy nodded. "Yes, they switched them to every tuesday instead of thursday."

Maggie looked unsteadily around. Maybe it was all the pink, I would have been overwhelmed as well. She walked over to the bed Piper had pointed to and sat down. Rather than staying with the other girls who had started to giggle at me I inched a little closer to Maggie. At least she knew better what I was feeling right then.

"You figure it's real?" Maggie whispered to me as Lacy and Piper continued in their conversation.

I waited a second before answering. "I don't know," I said, "but I think I want it to be."


	4. I Play Capture the Flag

**Chapter 4 I Play Capture the Flag**

Lacy told me I would have to sleep in the Hermes cabin because they always had room for newbies who hadn't been claimed yet. I had to say goodbye to Maggie because the other girls wanted to get to know her and none of them really seemed to like outsiders. Maggie seemed sad to see me go which made me feel better knowing I might have a friend. I wanted to find Lucas so he could show me which one the Hermes cabin was but didn't see him anywhere. I wandered aimlessly around the camp. Several of the campers gave me weird looks and I didn't blame them. They'd never seen me there before. Finally I spotted Lucas over by what must become later in the day, a campfire.

"Hey Ella," Lucas said. He was busy fiddling with some of the twigs, turning them into some sort of animal. With the flick of his hand the animal caught on fire and burned to ashes. Lucas looked disappointed.

"How do you do that?" I asked. "Can all demigods control fire?"

Lucas shook his head. "Very few actually. I've only heard of one other that went to this camp. A guy named Leo but he died in the battle last Tuesday."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, and I was. My suspicion had been correct. These people really did die and against horrible monsters too. I shivered to think of something more terrible than those skeletons we'd faced.

"It's okay," Lucas said. "I never even met him. Actually I only got here myself a few weeks ago. You're really lucky you weren't here during the battle against Rome."

I paused to take it in. There really had been a battle and I'd missed it by only a week. What if I hadn't? Could I have fought in an actual battle? No. There was no way I'd ever be brave enough.

I heard a bell chime in the distance.

"That's dinner," Lucas said perking up. "By the way I told Parce about you and the others so prepare to be embarrassed when he incorrectly tells Percy how to pronounce your names."

I was little nervous for the whole camp to know I was here. That would hopefully mean I'd have new friends even new family but it also meant in a way I was abandoning my own. Once the campers accepted me I would reach the point of no return.

I was a easily spotted in the sea of orange shirts as I was wearing a blue. Maggie and Jake also stood out but Maggie more than most. It looked like the Aphrodite girls had glamified her. She wore a orange t shirt all right but also sparkly pink shorts, a thick silver belt, pink doc martens and about eight pounds of make up. Her blonde hair that use to barely brush her shoulders was now in a fantastic braid all the way up her scalp. She was surrounded by a pack of aphrodite super models and now seemed to blend right in.

The campers reached an outdoor pavilion with long wooden tables. I noticed all the demigods seemed to have a place to go and Lucas explained how we all sat in our designated cabin. He offered to show me where the Hermes Cabin Table was so I could meet the people I would be staying with until my godly parent claimed me. As we passed the Hephaestus table a couple of his siblings cheered.

"Good to see you're alive," one boy said.

"Tell us all about it."

"Who's the new girl?"

Lucas couldn't put them off and instead pointed me in the right direction. I was starting to wonder exactly what Lucas had been doing when he crashed through my window.

The Hermes kids all looked nice enough but I stayed on my guard remembering how Hermes was the god of thieves. Jake sat at the Hermes Table too. He looked a little shaken, probably from touring the camp all day with Lando. I probably had a similar expression. The Hermes kids seemed use to seeing new faces and showed me how to make food appear. Then we all lined up and gave burnt offerings of our food to the gods. I didn't really feel like it because I was a little mad that whoever it was hadn't felt like claiming me but I felt pressured to do it anyway. All the burning food made me so hungry.

We dug into our dinners and I have to say I very much enjoyed it. After a while the whole camp became quiet as a hush fell over the crowd. That's when I first caught sight of Percy who I figured must run the camp when Chiron was away. Just as Lucas had predicted he said my name wrong and some of the campers laughed.

"And we'd like to welcome back Lucas, son of Hephaestus," Percy said and the Hephaestus cabin erupted into shouts and cheers. "Thanks to his bravery, his mission was a success." More claps and cheers. "Just in case you've forgotten we rescheduled our capture the flag game for tonight because a very important person is coming on friday. Oh and Head of Cabins our meeting starts at eight tonight. Lucas I want you to come as well," Percy said. "I need you to explain to the counselors exactly what happened."

I saw Lucas nod dutifully.

"Now then," Percy clapped his hands. "The teams for capture the flag..." Percy read off the names of some of the cabins, Hermes being one of them and we all stood. "You all are the blue team," Percy said and the cabins that had been called cheered loudly.

"Come on," Lucas said, catching up to me, "I'll show you how to suit up."

Thankfully we were on the same team but I noticed Aphrodite had remained behind meaning we would be against them.

"You know how to play right?" Lucas asked as he put on some pretty cool looking armor. "Just get the flag from the other side, you can do whatever you have to as long as you don't kill anyone."

"How would we kill someone-" I started to say but just then Lucas handed me a sword, a real sword, made of the same bronze material I'd seen him use before.

"Woah," I breathed, holding the blade in my hand.

"Camp Half Blood has loads of extra blades but that one you got from me, a son of Hephaestus so it's got a few extra features," Lucas said and took the blade back. He swung it in his palm and it began to glow.

"That's amazing," I said, taking the blade back. It seemed perfectly balanced in my hand, extremely light and thin.

"It only took me a week to make," Lucas said, "I was just going to put it in with the others but if you want it, it's yours."

I stared at the sword in my hand and thanked him. This was the coolest present I'd ever received.

"Now I know you don't know how to fight yet," Lucas said, "So I'll let your guard the flag. The red team is pretty weak so don't worry I'll get rid of them before they get close to you. Your only job is to guard the flag. Do what ever it takes, just don't let them steal it."

I nodded and noticed everyone else was filing into place. I saw where the Hephaestus Cabin Leader had hidden the flag and rushed over to it. Jake and Nico were also there. Jake looking completely lost on how to use his new bow and Nico, now that I got a better look at him looking determinedly ahead. In the distance we heard a conch horn blow announcing the start of the game. Immediately my muscles tensed.

Jake, Nico and I waited by the flag for what must have been thirty minutes with no interruptions. Every so often a bird would flutter to the ground and make me jump. That would make the boys laugh. I was starting to get bored when all of a sudden a couple of people from the red team crashed through the bushes taking me by surprise. I noticed Maggie was among them.

I drew my sword stupidly and pointed it at the oncoming attackers. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jake try to knock an arrow but dropped it instead. Behind us I heard Nico snicker. The Reds were coming on us fast, Maggie at the back. I trembled so badly I fumbled my sword letting it clatter to the ground. Jake still looked like he was trying to knock an arrow. We were toast.

Just then the earth rumbled and three zombies erupted from the ground between us and the Reds. I screamed before I realized they weren't trying to attack us. I whirled around so see Nico, deep in concentration controlling the monsters. Son of Hades, I remembered, Lord of the Dead. I watched in fear as some of the Reds ran off screaming as I would have done and the other tried to fight the zombies, slashing at them with their weapons. I didn't spot Maggie until it was too late. She had snuck back into the bushes and around the back. I caught her right as she grabbed the flag and lifted it out of the ground.

"Ella," Maggie said, she looked really scarred and kept eyeing Nico. "I really want to win this," she said. "For my cabin."

I understood what she meant. If my parent would just accept me I would know what to prove myself to my cabin as well. Still, I just couldn't let her get away with it. I drew my sword and Maggie tensed. But then, what was I suppose to do? I didn't want to hurt her so I slashed the flagpole instead. It remained firmly in her hand. Maggie seemed to take this as a moment of weakness. She braced herself then darted forward, avoiding the last zombie as it crumbled into dust. Jake and Nico both groaned as we saw her pick up speed, racing toward the other side. Then, the conch horn blew and I knew we had lost. Tonight, Maggie was the hero.

Jake, Nico and I made our way back to camp and spotted Maggie raised high on the shoulders of her siblings and some of the other red cabins. She was holding the flag which had turned from a hammer to a dove. Everyone was cheering.

"First time Aphrodite's won in years," Lucas commented. "Or so I've been told."

So that was that. I was a little disappointed but it felt worse for everyone know it had been me who had let Maggie slip through the defenses. People kept eyeing me darkly. Next week, I thought, next week I'll be claimed and win the flag for my cabin.


	5. I Fight People with my Sword

**Chapter Five I Fight People with my Sword**

I woke of on the stone hard floor of the Hermes Cabin feeling groggy and sleep deprived. They had given me a small section of the floor for me to sleep since all the bunks were taken be real sons and daughters of Hermes. I'd been cold all night because I didn't have any blankets. There had been no personal items so set down so there was nothing to mark my place besides my new sword and I was not letting that out of my sight when in a cabin of thieves. As the other kids woke up they changed into their orange camp half blood shirts and got ready for the day. I still needed my own shirt because I was tired of sticking out in the crowd and smelling like yesterday's capture the flag match. Who I really wanted to see right then was Lucas.

The cabin was dressed and ready by 7:00am. Someone had graciously lent me their clothes so I no longer looked like a dot of blue in a sea of orange. Nobody talked to me as we went down for breakfast. I assumed they were all still mad at me for losing capture the flag. I saw Maggie who waved to me but I didn't wave back. I was still upset at her from the night before. I ate breakfast in silence as Percy gave a speech about the capture the flag game. He congratulated Maggie for winning and being the first person to win the game by herself on her very first night at camp. Everyone was very impressed. Then the Hermes Cabin got ready for their daily activities. I stood as we followed Travis and Connor Stoll, the two co cabin leaders out of the dining pavilion.

First we had archery with the cabin leader from Apollo. His name was Will. He showed me how to correctly nock an arrow on the string, pull back to my lip and release. I wasn't terrible but I wasn't any good either. After my twenty or so shots all I had was eight hits, mostly in the white and a sore arm. I wasn't any good at canoeing either which is what we had next. My arms were already sore from archery and I may had let Mary and Georgia, the other two girls in my boat do most of the work. During lunch I tried to get the blood pumping in my arms again. This would be hard, I realized, a lot harder than I thought.

After lunch I had sword fighting, taught by Percy and I wasn't that bad. I was thankful that the sword I had was balanced and even managed to disarm Mary once. She gave me lots of bruises though, probably revenge for making her paddle me though the water. I stuck out on wrestling too and I wasn't too bummed about that. The cabin leader from Ares, Clarisse, was huge and scary. I did not want to fight her again. Next was hand to hand combat. Our combat instructor was an athletic looking girl from Dionysus which was surprising because I knew he was the god of wine not fighting. She looked very alert and had her chocolate brown hair braided down her shoulder. The girl's name was Josephine.

"Alright everyone pick a partner," Josephine said and Mary immediately chose me. I think she was planning to beat me up a bit more. Josephine explained how we would be learning a new defence sequence. Mary grinned as she volunteered to be offence the first round. She punched me and I sidestepped.

"That's not the right move," Mary said, sounding annoyed and she punched me again. This time I got hit. Josephine seemed to notice what was going on.

"You're new right?" she asked and I nodded. "Mary can you work with Clara and Georgia for now. I'm going to work with what was your name again? Ella?" I nodded again. "I'll work with you one on one and see if we can get you somewhat caught up."

Josephine showed me the three basic punches and had me repeat them twenty times. Then a few kicks and I wasn't so bad. She said I could get higher then most beginners. Josephine explained to me that fighting was more like a dance. It was only reserved for when all else was lost and I had nothing else to fight with. She explained how girls were normal better at this style of fighting because they understood the fluid and graceful movements in which a strike must be delivered. Then she laughed as she watched some of the boys trying to go all karate on each other and whack each other with the blades of their palms.

"I'd better go correct them," Josephine said. "Do twenty crescent kicks while I'm gone. Both legs."

I was grateful Josephine was helping me. The other instructors had given me about a two minute tutorial and then thrown me in with the other kids but I was actually understanding this method of fighting. It came almost as easy as sword fighting.

When Josephine returned she expected I was ready to try it with a partner. She called Mary over again to be my partner and re explained the sequence we were studying. My stomach hurt after being punched so many times, Mary hit hard. Finally, I remembered all the steps and blocked all seven of the punches I was suppose to be protecting myself from. Josephine clapped and Mary rolled her eyes.

"I went slow on purpose," Mary said, putting up her firsts again. "This time won't be so easy."

Again she punched and I forgot for a moment what I was suppose to do with my feet. Mary got a good shot in and I fell backwards.

"That's why you can't second guess yourself," Josephine said, helping me up. "One second of indecision and it can be all over."

I nodded and tried again. This time I got the footwork right but forgot to block the third strike, a knife hand. By the end of the lesson I was all battered and bruised up and vowed never to let Mary do all the work in canoeing again. It had been a long day.

"You're not a regular are you?" Josephine said as put my shoes back on. When I gave her an inquisitive look she explained. "A regular in the Hermes cabin is a kid who's actually the son or daughter of Hermes. If Hermes you're father?"

"I don't know," I said truthfully. Honestly I wouldn't mind if he was. It was a lot better than some of my other options and the Hermes kids didn't seem to hold a grudge for too long. After lunch they had forgotten all about our defeat during capture the flag.

"You're an undetermined then," Josephine said. "Don't worry, all the gods vowed to claim their kids before they turn sixteen. It use to be that you would might never be claimed, just waiting in Cabin 11, never knowing who your mother or father was. How old are you right now?" She asked.

"Thirteen," I told her.

Josephine nodded. "That's how old I was when I came to the camp last year. Don't worry, your parent won't ignore you forever. It probably won't be long at all. Hey, we might even be half sisters," she grinned.

I returned the smile but I didn't really want to be the daughter of the god of wine. It wasn't exactly the power I was hoping for.

After dinner I went to bed. Mary finally took pity on me and gave me one of her sheets and a pillow. The next morning I awoke to find a bag of toiletries sitting by my feet. An odd gesture maybe but it made all the difference to me. I felt like I had finally found a home in Camp Half Blood.

A few days went by and my archery technique still grew poorer. I at least tried to row the canoe and wrestle Mary. Percy said I was getting better at the sword and also liked to point out my unique style. He said that because my blade was so light, my attacks were very quick. I liked to slash the sword around a while pretending to go for the legs and when the attacked tried to block my false move I would spring up and lightly tap their unguarded chest. He said this is what many fencers use but not many Greeks. Josephine quickly got tougher as well. She would have me do these horrible flexibility test that no one else would have to do and it made me ache all over. When friday came I could barely lift a finger without it hurting.

It was that night that I found out who Percy's special guest was. Her name was

Annabeth Chase and she brought along about six other people that were introduced as Reyna, Hazel, Frank, Tyson, another person, or more like bird named Ella and Jared. I later found out that Annabeth was Percy's girlfriend and she had been sent to Camp Jupiter to retrieve these six people. Then I noticed the people around me starting to get upset and I realized this was the same camp that had attacked us last week. What was Percy doing letting them back into camp?

"Settle down everyone," Percy said, trying to quiet the crowd. "Remember Camp Jupiter is our friend."

A few people cheered but less people booed. I was suddenly very confused.

"Since there will be no capture the flag game tonight," Percy continued. "We are going to have a celebration between the two camps."

More cheering, clapping and booing. I whirled around and saw to my amazement, twenty or so Roman demigods in purple t-shirts. The all scowled at us with stony faces. Now I was really confused. Was Percy out of his mind?

"Don't worry," Lucas said coming up behind me. "These are the good Romans. When they attacked us they were under the command of an evil tyrant named Octavian. It's his fault this whole war happened. I'm not sure if the rumors are true, but I think Nico from Hades cabin killed him."

I wasn't sure if Lucas wanted him to sound impressive or dangerous. That Hades kids was pretty scary. Those zombies he summoned during capture the flag were horrifying. I shivered to think of what else he might do.

"Why is Nico the only son of Hades," I finally asked. It had been a question on my mind for a while now. All the other cabins were full of kids but when ever I heard people talk about the son of Hades, there was only one person it could be.

"They're called the big three," Lucas explained. "Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. After

World War II they swore not to have any more kids. It's kind of complicated but Nico was actually born before WWII and was trapped inside a casino for a really long time which actually felt like only a week and then here is now."

I gave him a very puzzled look.

"Never mind," Lucas said. "The point is, the big three arn't suppose to have any kids

well, the did any way at least Poseidon and Zeus did. Percy they guy up there, he's the son of Poseidon. Then there's Jason over there," he pointed to a blonde kid sitting with Piper. "He's the son of Zeus. He also had a sister named Thalia. She's a Hunter of Artemis now but still a daughter of Zeus. Then you see Hazel up there," he pointed to the girl sitting next to Annabeth. "Daughter of Pluto, which is the Roman form of Hades. She was also born before WWII. Hades kids always end up having a hard life that often ends in tragedy. Poor kids."

"So two children of Zeus, two children of Hades and one son of Poseidon, that's it?" I said to clarify.

Lucas grimaced. "Well there is one other. She was the daughter of Hades. Nico's real sister Bianca. She died maybe three years ago."

"Oh," I said. Maybe that was why Nico was so gloomy.

Percy stood. "Okay guys. Let the festival begin."


	6. I Watch the Sky Explode

**Chapter Six I Watch the Sky Explode**

The festival was off to a rocky start. Most of the Romans just stood there staring at us Greeks, eyeing the snack table. Only the leader named Frank and his girlfriend Hazel seemed to be enjoying the party on the Roman side. I didn't understand what the point was of this. Everything seemed very tense.

"Percy are you sure this was a good idea?" I heard Annabeth asking Percy.

I have to agree I sided with her. Percy stood again and everyone looked desperately at him.

"Alright alright," he said and the satyrs who had been playing their reed pipes died down. "I guess if none of you wants to celebrate the peace I have to tell you why I really gathered everyone here."

But Percy never got to finish. Just then there was an explosion from the sky and everyone ducked for cover.

"The sky is falling!" I heard one Roman yell and several people snickered. There was a great crash and an explosion of fire. Lucas was the first one on his feet. He saw Percy give him the okay sign and then ducked into the flames totally unscathed. I watched as he disappeared behind the raging fire.

It was several long tense minutes before Lucas emerged from the flames carrying a girl maybe sixteen or seventeen. He laid her safely on the ground before running into the fire again. The next time Lucas emerged it was with a boy who was also unconscious. The boy looked suspiciously like him. Both the figures were covered in ash and soot and immediately everyone crowded them.

"Oh my gods," Annabeth said and I saw some of the other campers with the same expression. I didn't understand why, even Lucas didn't seem to get it. He had returned to my side, his clothes badly burnt again but perfectly fine.

The boy who looked like Lucas opened his eyes and grinned. He stood up and brushed the soot off his clothes. Everyone was still staring at him awestruck.

"We made it," the boy said and looked down at the girl who was still unconscious. He then seemed to notice she was not okay. The girl had a nasty looking burn on her arm. "Calypso?" the boy said, looking panicked. Still nobody said anything.

"Leo," Percy breathed. He looked amazed. "You're alive?"

Then everything seemed to click. This was the boy who had died defeating the giants. The one everyone thought was dead, except now he wasn't dead. It was Lucas's half brother, the other son of Hephaestus.

"Somebody get Calypso to the hospital," Leo said. He was starting to look weak. Then he turned back to the fire and seemed to realize something. He looked pained but tried to hide it. Percy caught on.

"Festus is in there isn't he."

Leo nodded bitterly. "But it's okay. I don't think I can go back in there. My lungs are too full of smoke," he coughed.

"I'll do it," Lucas said bravely.

Leo looked at him skeptically. "I don't think you understand. It's like a million degrees in there, only I can withstand it. No offense."

Lucas shook his head. "It's okay Leo. I want to do it. Who is Festus?"

Percy and Leo exchanged looks and told Lucas what it was he was looking for. Lucas had an odd expression on his face but changed in anyway.

"That kid's going to blow himself up," Leo said trying to chase after him but doubling up coughing again.

I tried not to smile remembering that Leo still thought he was the only son of Hephaestus with the special fire blessing. Leo seemed to understand though when Lucas emerged from the fire a third time, flames still dancing on his skin and clothes even more tattered than before. He had brought back the metal dragon head.

"Well done brother," Leo said, trying to mask his look of shock. "What's your name?"

"That's Lucas," Percy said before Lucas could answer. "He saved your life when you were in the fire. Calypso's too."

Leo then seemed to remember about Calypso. He fell to his knees before her and some nymphs carried him and the girl away towards the hospital. Then everything broke into chaos.

After being slapped on the back several times by his cabin mates and hoisted onto their soldiers like a hero, Lucas returned to me.

"That was pretty brave," I told him and he grinned.

"It was nothing," he said but sounded proud. "I just can't believe Leo's back. How did he do it? I though the seven said they saw him die or something."

"Who was the girl he was with?" I asked and Lucas shrugged claiming he's never seen her before around Camp Half Blood. "Well I guess you'll need another change of clothes," I said laughing as he looked down at his holy t-shirt.

Lucas smiled. "I go through about ten shirts a week."

We were all sent back to our cabins after that. Percy had called an emergency counselor meeting and so Hermes cabin was left under the control of Mary. She didn't really care what we did so I got ready for bed, wishing that I could be at the meeting and finding out what was going on. I assumed everything would be different now that the once dead Leo was back.

The next day there were still a lot of questions in the air. Lucas joined me for breakfast which was breaking the rules a bit but he said he was tired of being slapped on the back by the bigger Hephaestus kids. We were in the middle of talking when Leo himself emerged from the hospital, wearing a splint on his wrist and a few cuts on his face but other than that looked fine. He surprised us even more by sitting across from Lucas.

"I was correct last night in calling you brother, wasn't I," Leo asked after realizing he was sitting at the Hermes table.

Lucas cringed. "Yes you were. I was um just visiting."

Leo smiled and winked. "I won't tell. Is this you you're visiting?" He said turning to me. "What's your name?"

"Ella," I told him.

Leo smiled. "Of course. So Lucas, how long have you been at camp?"

"Not long," Lucas responded but then asked the question everyone had been dying to know the answer to. "How did you do it? I mean, everyone thought you were dead. Where were you and how did you get back?"

Leo sighed and leaned in a little closer. "Well I suppose you deserve to know seeing that you saved my lady's life and all. Hermes girl you can listen too of course."

I blushed a little. "I'm not a regular," I said realized he thought I was Hermes's daughter. "I'm still undetermined."

Leo raised his eyebrows. "Well then in that case I'll trust you a bit more not to be spreading rumors all over the camp." Then he began his story telling us about the flower Apollo gave him and how Festus had saved him by injecting it in him after he died. Then he'd found the girl Calypso who he had promised to save a while back and stayed with her on the island for about a week. There he had been rebuilding Festus for the return flight to Camp Half Blood. The return trip was a bit harder though because Calypso was not suppose to leave the island so as soon as Festus was in the air he caught fire. This was obviously not problem to Leo but he had to keep extinguishing the flames in order to protect Calypso. Then, juggling the flames and steering Festus became too hard and Festus was burning up. The almost made it but Festus exploded sending Leo and Calypso shooting to the ground. Leo thought that Festus tried to break their fall right before short circuiting barely saving their life.

Lucas raised his eyebrows, looking very impressed. "You flew a metal dragon that you built in a week from Calypso's island to Long Island? That's so cool."  
Leo grinned and gave Lucas a fist bump. "I let you try it sometime," Leo said and Lucas looked like a kid who had just been given candy. "Well anyway," Leo said, starting to get up. "I've got to go talk to Percy. See you later man."

Lucas turned back to me looking excited. "That guy's great. I'd never be able to do something like that."

I grinned. "We'll you're very much the hero these days. That's two victorys isn't it? So when are you going to tell me what you were doing when you crashed through my window?"

Lucas's smile vanished. "You really don't want to know."

Lucas looked serious so I dropped it. Just then breakfast ended and it was time for morning classes. Another round of being humiliated at archery, yay.


	7. I Watch My Friend Go Up in Green Smoke

Chapter Seven

I'd been at camp a month now. Jake was claimed by Demeter no less than two weeks ago and Leo's return story had become legend. Me? I was still living in Hermes cabin, battered and sore as ever but much stronger. Josephine was training me harder than ever and we'd become pretty much friends. Maggie and I were hanging out a lot more and I barely got to see Lucas because he was needed in so many meetings nowadays. My archery technique had grown poorer still and Will had almost given up hope. In the beginning he's given me hope by saying his aunt Artemis would take me if I was never claimed but if I never improved I'd never become a huntress. Pace had taken pity on me and let me drop wrestling because I'd only recently recovered from a fractured arm. It had really only been broken for a week because of the strange drink the nymphs were giving me, it tasted like the sweetest thing I'd ever had and they called it ambrosia. The only things I was good at was still sword and hand to hand combat.

The Aphrodite kids didn't take as many classes so Maggie and I both had a free period when I was suppose to be taking wrestling. We used this time to explore camp and meet new people. One of our favorite places to visit were the two cabins that were always empty, Hera and Artemis. They were beautiful cabins in very different ways. Hera's was very majestic with white marble floors, columns and beautiful blue and green peacocks etched into the ceiling. Artemis's on the other hand was very enchanting with silver decor and lots of glittering ornaments in the shape of deer, stars or other things on the walls, strung from the ceiling or clustered around bubbling crystal fountain. The Artemis cabin had actual beds inside that looked very comfortable and I wondered why Hera's didn't. I wanted very badly for Artemis to claim me but I knew that would never happen because Artemis pledged never to have kids.

It was on our third day of exploring that we discovered the cave. The cave looked like a cave from the outside and was at the very edge of camp so naturally we went inside. We were completely taken by surprise when we found the interior of the cave was decorated like an art studio with lots of easels, canvases and artwork hanging from the wall. There was even a flat screen TV hooked up to the wall. Then we saw the girl standing at one of the easels with extremely red curly hair. She smiled at us as if she was expecting we'd arrive any minute.

"Hi," she said, putting down her paintbrush in a cup of water. "I see you've found my cave."

"I'm sorry," I said instinctively. "We didn't mean to barge in, we though it was just a regular cave."

"It's okay," the redhead said as if this happened all the time. "My name is Rachel."

Rachel ended up being one of the heros of camp. She was the one behind the legend of the plastic hairbrush when she threw it of the titan lord Kronos. I was glad to finally meet her because it was one of my favorite campfire stories Percy told. Rachel was also to Oracle, I'd heard that story too, about how the oracle use to be this shriveled up mummy before Rachel inhabited the spirit. I thought that was pretty cool.

We ended up staying longer than we'd planned. Rachel served us lemonade and even asked me to pose for one of her quick sketches. It actually turned out pretty good, Rachel was an amazing artist. As we left she told us to come by soon and I agreed. Rachel reminded me of an old friend even though we'd only just met and she was a few years older than me, someone I could look up to.

After combat with Josephine she invited me back to her cabin to hang out and said Maggie could come too. It was then that I found out Dionysus was not only the god of wine but the god of parties too. His cabin was designed sort of like an arcade but a party too. The walls and floors were made of glowing multicolored tiles that faded with the music. Against the walls there were games like pac man and skeeball. There was a vending machine that was totally rigged so that we could pull any kind of snack out for free and a pop corn machine that filled the air with a buttery sent. The cabin even had it's own mini cinema in the back with velvet red chairs. All I can say is the cabin was pretty sweet.

"You get to live here?" Maggie said, rushing over to the pac man machine.

"Well I have to share it with my half brother Pollux, he sleeps over there," Josephine said, pointing to one of the two beds. "But yeah, pretty cool huh?"  
"No kidding," I said pulling out a bag of freshly popped pop corn. "Why can't my parent hurry up and claim me?"

"Don't worry," Josephine said flopping down on her leopard print bed. "You have got to be claimed soon. It took a while for my dad to claim me and he saw me every day because he use to work here."

We surfed Netflix for a while before we heard the conch horn blow in the distance and knew it was time for dinner. I was starting to regret eating all that popcorn. Lucas met up with me before we sat down and persuaded me to sit with him at the Hephaestus cabin. Nobody gave me a second look and even helped hide me in the crowd. Any friend of Lucas was a friend of theirs, they said. Leo seemed to notice me and moved closer to Lucas.

"I see your friend is back Lucas," Leo said winking at me.

"Shouldn't you be up at the head table," Lucas said but gave him a half grin.

"Eh, I've gotten enough scolding from Annabeth this week," Leo shrugged. "She still won't let go the fact that I almost died. Hey did you hear that explosion from the forge an hour ago?" Leo asked, a look of excitement on his face.

"No way that was you," Lucas looked incredulous.

Leo nodded looking triumphant, "Everything completely scorched. Next time you should come down and together we can make an even bigger explosion."

Lucas grinned wickedly.

Just then the girl Lucas had rescued from the fire appeared looking much healthier. The Hephaestus kids gladly made room for her and she sat down next to Leo, smiling happily.

"Calypso," Leo said. "Have you met Lucas's friend Ella?"

"Very nice to meet you," Calypso said to me and I noticed for the first time something odd. There was something very strange about Calypso making her seem almost more than human. Lucas had something about there being an island named after her but I couldn't remember any stories.

After dinner we had a campfire. Percy and Annabeth made a few announcements concerning the disappearance of Chiron the camp activities director. He'd left on some important mission and was suppose to return weeks ago. After a few worried remarks we had our sing along and the wood nymphs did their dance. Then right as we were about to finish for the night a familiar hand grabbed my shoulder. It was Rachel a realized. She was grabbing at me to steady herself and it looked like she run a great distance in a short amount of time.

"Are you okay," I began to say before she gasped and green smoke erupted from her eyes and mouth.

The green glow inhabited her eyes and I wanted to fall backwards but I couldn't let Rachel hurt herself.

"She's giving a prophecy," Annabeth exclaimed rushing over and helping Rachel stand.

There was a murmur of excitement from the other demigods.

As Rachel's mouth opened, more green smoke billowed out.

"The forge and the dove she rise again,

Lead by the one that long was sought,

Met by the child born completely mad,

to reach the sun that fell from the stars,

and return unavenged the death of a lost."  
Everyone was quiet as Rachel's eyes returned to normal and her mouth stopped billowing green smoke. She awoke in Annabeth's arms because in my fear I stumbled backwards.

"What did I say this time?" Rachel said, turning around. Everyone was staring at her.

"The dove and the forge," Percy said after someone had explained the prophecy to Rachel. "That's just like the prophecy Jason, Piper and Leo received last year isn't it."

The three of them made their way to the center of the campfire and faced the camp.

"The dove and the forge referred to me and Leo last time," Piper explained. "Does it mean we have another quest?"

Most of the campers agreed. I didn't know what to think. It made sense, two of the bravest demigods going on a quest. But against what? As as far as I knew we weren't at war with anyone and no one was plotting against us.

"Who's the one that long was sought?" Jason asked and it was the question everyone was thinking.

Some of the campers shouted out random answered but Annabeth seemed to make the most sense.

"It's probably you Percy or Jason," she said. "Both of you were sought after for a long time before we found you. One of you is supposed to go with Leo and Piper."

"I'll go," Jason said bravely. "We worked together before and Percy you need to take care of the camp while Chiron is still away.

"It is not to be you three," a voice said from the distance. All the campers suddenly directed their attention to a lone figure in the south. It looked like a man on horseback but as it got closer, I realized it was a man from the waist up and a horse from the waist down. This was Chiron the camp activities director everyone had been talking about it.

"Chiron!" Percy exclaimed rushing over to him. "Where have you been?"

"I had to pay a little visit to the fates," Chiron chuckled. "Had a bit more trouble getting out of the underworld than I'd hoped. Lord Hades has not been in a good mood these days."

Nico stirred.

"You went to the underworld," Annabeth asked, sounding surprised. "But why?"

"It does not matter why child," Chiron said wisely. "Just that I have seen a prophecy of my own and I know it is not to be the heros from before however brave they may be." His eyes glinted as he saw Leo. "Welcome back son of Hephaestus," he said and went to sit down in the middle of the camp fire. "Have I missed s'mores already?"

After camp fire I went back to the Hermes Cabin with the other kids, the prophecy still buzzing in my head. Chiron had given me an odd look with I'd seen him and I assumed it was only because he'd never met me before. I'd ask Lucas to introduce me the next morning so I could get the strange sensation out of my head. It was the same odd feeling I'd gotten when I saw Annabeth, like I had seen them before. I tried to shove it aside but it just kept coming back. I just couldn't explain it. What did the prophecy mean and who was it referring to?


	8. I Start to Wonder

The next day I awoke in the Artemis cabin. It was the strangest thing. I could have sworn I'd fallen asleep in the Hermes Cabin. Mary and Georgia were now letting me share their mattress by pushing their beds together and us all sleeping sideways. It may not sound comfortable but after sleeping on the floor for a month it was like laying on a cloud. I woke up with silver silk covers around me, silk pajamas and a oddly enough green hat on. It felt wrong being in the Artemis cabin with obviously someone else's clothes on and no explanation of how I got there. Also with no alarm clock, I was late to my my morning lesson.

I got dressed as quickly as I could but couldn't find a Camp Half Blood shirt in any of the drawers. Instead I had to settle for a black shirt with a grey moon on it the read Hunters of Artemis. As I put it on I turned it inside out so no one would no I'd broken into the cabin. I was sure I'd taken off the green hat but when I arrived halfway through the archery lesson, it was still on my head.

"Where were you," Mary hissed at me. "When we woke up this morning you were gone. Travis made me go look for you at seven o clock in the morning. Thanks a lot."

I didn't tell her where I really was, I made something up because I felt really bad about waking up in someone else's cabin. She noticed my black shirt though and got mad at me again for losing the orange one she'd given me but truthfully I had no idea where it had gone.

It wasn't until Will came over, expecting to correct me again that I started to get really freaked out. When I drew back, expecting to hit the backdrop or the white, I hit the bullseye. right in the middle. Will seemed to notice and came over.

"Did you do that?" He asked, looking impressed. "Can you do it again?"

Shakily, I pulled back another arrow and let it fly. It bounced against the white sheet far behind the target. I sighed.

"Maybe it was just luck," Will said and moved on.

For a second there I was under the impression that Artemis had claimed me. It sounded so stupid because that was impossible. Artemis would never have any kids and if she did she's never reveal them. Still the idea nagged at me, even after I'd changed into a new Camp Half Blood t shirt. I decided to use my free period to talk to Chiron.

Chiron was a lot scarier up close. He was in the Big House drinking lemonade when he noticed me and seemed to stop his game of solitaire, or so it looked like.

"You're one of the new campers Percy told me about," Chiron said as his eyes settled on me. "Are you enjoying your stay at Camp Half Blood?"

"Yes sir," I said and he motioned for me to take a seat.

"Are you Ella or Maggie?" Chiron asked as he offered me a lemonade.

"Ella," I said as I politely declined.

Chiron seemed to understand something because his face hardened. "You are concerned because you have not been claimed? Do not worry it will be soon."

I fidgeted in my seat. This conversation went a lot better in my head. It was so much harder to say now that I was face to face with the great centaur.

"I think I have been claimed," I said slowly, trying to pick the right words.

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Think?" He said, picking up on my subtle hint.

"Well," I faltered. "This morning I... woke up in Artemis cabin." I paused. "But I went to sleep in the Hermes Cabin the night before." Chiron still didn't say anything but gave me an expression I could not read. "And maybe, I could be sleep walking but it's just... I'm a horrible archer and the Apollo Cabin Counselor Will can vouch for that but this morning I shot a perfect bullseye."

Chiron didn't say anything for a while and I felt my cheeks growing hot. Maybe I'd insulted him accidentally. Finally he spoke.

"You were not claimed by Artemis," he said and my heart did a flip.

I didn't know what to think my heart was racing just by being in Chiron's presence and I really wanted an excuse just to get out of there. Then felt stupid for even thinking I was the daughter of Artemis.

"You are however right to think so," Chiron said and I was confused all over again. "Artemis never will have children so being her daughter is out of the question. She however has taken favor to you so you should take that as a compliment. I do not know exactly what it means other than Lady Artemis has some how chosen you among other girls. I would take this as a blessing and not think too much of it. If Artemis has chosen you for something important she will reveal it on her own time."

"Yes sir," I said, trying my best to find the meaning in his words.

"Ella," he said sternly. "Do not take this too lightly either. Gods do not just choose their demigods at random. I'll keep an eye on you."

Part of me was a little frightened by his words, a real greek goddess, the ones I'd been studying had chosen me to do something but I had no idea what. It seemed like an honor but also a burden. I didn't know what to tell Maggie or Lucas, would they believe me? Did Chiron even believe me or was he just saying that to save me from humiliation. And why wasn't my parent claiming me already? I'd been here for over a month surely if they were watching they would have seen me by now. Even Lucas was starting to get anxious, asking me questions about my day, wondering if I'd seen any clues. I wouldn't blame him though, Lando was starting to get snarky, saying he really had brought back a mortal. I was starting to really dislike him.

For dinner that night I actually sat at the Hermes table. I wanted to tell Maggie and Lucas about what happened this morning, but I was still thinking about a way to put it where I didn't sound crazy. To my surprise, it was Rachel that sat down across from me.

"Who are you," she said, taking me by surprise.

Maybe she was suffering from amnesia after giving the prophecy last night. "I'm Ella, remember?" I said but Rachel shook her head.

"I know that, but Ella please be honest, who are you really?"

I was starting to get a little freaked out. Rachel probably was still under some strange oracle presence and wasn't quite herself.

"I'm just Ella," I tried to tell her but she backed off.

"It's okay," she said and stood up, looking disappointed. "Last night after the camp fire I had this other vision, for a second I thought you were..." she trailed off. "Never mind that's stupid. See you later," she said and walked not back to her cave but towards the head table. Percy seemed to sense trouble and stood. I watched as Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo and Percy ran off towards the Big House with Rachel. This did not look good.

When Maggie and Lucas heard my story about Artemis cabin they both looked worried.

"Are you sure Chiron wasn't just saying that because you were the daughter of Artemis?" Maggie said.

I shook my head. "I don't think he was lying and it's not like it could be true anyway. Artemis is never suppose to have kids. I think it was suppose to mean something else.

"I bet I know," Lucas said.

Maggie and I turned our heads wondering what Lucas could be on about.

"She wants you to join her hunt. Have you heard of the Hunters of Artemis? They're her elite pack of demigods and powerful mortals that go around saving the world from such and such," Lucas said but a little too glumly.

"That sounds awesome!" Maggie said. "I want to join the Hunters of Artemis."  
"There also immortal," Lucas said bitterly.

"Immortal?" I breathed. "I get to be immortal?"

"Only if you're not slain in combat," Lucas said. "And you have to swear off all guys. That's why there's never been a daughter of Aphrodite join the hunt Maggie."

Maggie looked disappointed.

"So you think Artemis sent me a message as a clue to get me to join the hunt made of up immortal monster slaying girls and no guys allowed," I said, a grin appearing on my face.

"It's pretty obvious isn't it," Lucas said but he wouldn't meet my eye.

"So how do I join the hunt?" I asked, looking around as if I expected them all to come bursting through the woods.

Lucas sighed. "Well you have to find Artemis first. Only she can give you the oath to become a real member and I've heard she was only just released from her island prison with Apollo. She's probably somewhere with the huntresses tracking down some monster in Canada maybe."

I just about to give up saying there was no way I could track them down when a conch horn blew in the distance. That meant we were either under attack or someone special was returning from a quest. It turned out to be neither. Percy just gathered us in the dining pavillion in our assorted cabins and didn't say a word until everyone was seated. Some of us were carrying weapons and others, mostly from the Hypno cabin were already in pajamas. Everyone looked confused.

"Attention everyone," Percy called and then saw Chiron emerge from the Big House.

As if remembering he didn't run the camp any more Percy sat down and let Chiron take over after whispering something in his ear.

"Well then," Chiron said and as he did so he turned his gaze to look right at me. "We have an unexpected visit from The Hunters of Artemis."

There were some cheers but mostly everyone stayed quiet as a pack of very tough looking girls in silver hunting outfits and bows paraded down the pavillion and sat at the always empty Artemis table. I saw the toughest looking one, the leader I think come up and give Jason a hug at the head table. She must be Thalia, I realized, Jason's sister.

I couldn't believe it. The Hunters of Artemis were here. There could be no coincidence, this surely meant I was destined to join the hunt. Maggie and Lucas were both staring at me with open mouths. They were just as freaked as I was.

"Hello Camp Half Blood," Thalia said, addressing the camp. "We are here on account of Lady Artemis. She told us we would find someone here that we thought we lost."

Even Thalia seemed confused. All the hunters were now scanning the crowd looking for someone but no one knew who.

"After Artemis was freed from the war," Thalia continued. "She had to go back to Olympus just like all the other gods, but recently, she gave us notice that someone we were looking for had just appeared at Camp Half Blood. We thought it might be Phoebe." She said the last sentence a little softer than the others.

I remembered what Lucas said about the Hunters being almost immortal other than being slain in combat. They weren't here to recruit me after all. They were looking for someone they already knew and that certainly wasn't me.


	9. I Win Capture the Flag

Chapter Nine

The Hunters of Artemis slept in the Artemis Cabin that night so I prayed I wouldn't wake up in there again. That surely would raise some eyebrows. There was some talk of girls wanting to join the hunters but Thalia turned them all away because Artemis wasn't there to officiate it. Plus they were all still recovering from the loss of some of their old members and did want new people to join just yet.

Thankfully I woke up, still in the Hermes cabin but with a sharp pain on my side. When I reached into my pocket I found a little figurine of a man with a viking helmet and a black cloak. The horns of the helmet had been jabbing into my side all night and I wondered how it got there. I showed it around to some of my cabin mates to see if they recognized it but none of them knew anything so I tucked the strange figurine back into my pocket.

At breakfast there was a buzz in the air because Percy's famous sword Riptide had disappeared. It was suppose to return to his pocket whenever he lost it but recently it had just vanished. Maggie and I hid ourselves at the Hephaestus table so we could talk to Lucas. I was showing them the strange figurine when Thalia walked by. She stopped and stared at us. Oh no, I thought frantically, we were busted.

"Can I see that?" She said, reaching for the figurine. She stared at it for a moment before a look of alarm washed over her face. "Where did you get this."

"It was in my cabin this morning," I said.

"Hephaestus cabin?" Thalia asked noticing Leo sitting with some of his friends.

I grimaced. "Well," I started to say but thankfully Thalia cut me off.

"It doesn't matter. I'm going to take this if that's okay," she said and rushed off before I could answer.

"Well that was strange," Maggie said.

After our daily activities it was time for capture the flag again. I'd played it four times now and lost every round. This time was different though because now it was the whole camp versus the ten Hunters of Artemis. We readied for battle and I brought out the sword Lucas had made for me. I'd even gotten a shield this time and Lucas had moved me up to offence. I was ready to win the round.

It was actually Percy that noticed the hair clip. The group of campers on offence, including him were lining up when Percy stopped me to look at my hair clip. It sounded really odd, he asked me to take it off so I did but I had no idea why. It got caught in my hair, I didn't even know how it had gotten there, maybe Maggie had put it on when I wasn't looking. When I got it out I saw it was a pretty, silver clip in the shape of a crescent moon, a lot like something the Hunter of Artemis would wear. I still didn't understand what Percy had against it.

As I held it in my hand for him to take the strangest thing happened. The clip grew really heavy and expanded in my hand. it grew larger and larger until it was a sword- Percy's sword. I had somehow stolen Riptide.

"I didn't," I began to say but Percy just took the sword. Immediately it shrunk down to a ballpoint pen.

"Did you steal my sword," he asked plainly and I shook my head, unable to make words form. "There's a long history of this blade," he said, clicking the pen and letting it grow back into it's full size. "But it's original owner was a girl named Zoe Nightshade."

He waited for me to respond but I had never heard of such a person.

"When Zoe had the blade," he said and touched Riptide to my palm. It instantly turned back into the silver hair clip. "It did that," he said and we stared at each other.

I didn't know what he meant. How could I, a random girl from Texas, be somehow linked to a girl named Zoe Nightshade, a Hunter of Artemis.

"I think we should talk to Chiron," Percy said and I knew I was being pulled out of the game. I was a little disappointed but I was really glad at least Percy didn't think I'd stolen his sword.

We approached the Big House and saw Chiron waiting for us on the porch holding none other than the little figurine Thalia had confiscated that morning. He looked like he'd been waiting for us.

"What is it Percy," Chiron said and Percy showed him how his blade, Riptide responded to me.

"Very peculiar," Chiron said and studied me closely. "Now Ella child you came to me yesterday saying you'd awoken in the Artemis Cabin and shot a perfect bullseye in archery. Today Thalia, the lieutenant to Artemis came to me with this." He revealed the figurine in his palm.

Percy looked stunned. "Isn't that-"

"Yes Percy," Chiron said. "Thalia told me she received it from a dark haired girl sitting at the Hephaestus table. Could this have by any chance have been you?"

I knew I was busted, there was no point in hiding it. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have sat there."

Chiron didn't say anything. Instead he took the hairpin and figurine and held them out to Percy. "Together does this mean anything to you?"

Percy nodded, he looked very alarmed even scared.

"Mr. Jackson will you please retrieve Miss Grace and Mr. Diangelo from the game. I'm afraid the Capture the Flag game will have to wait," Chiron said and Percy raced off into the distance.

I had no idea what was happening. Chiron didn't bother explaining to me while we waited for Percy to return with the others. When they did they both had worried expressions. Chiron showed them the two items and their expressions darkened just as Percy's had.

"I think we can say this is worth investigating," Chiron said. "They all seem to tie in with Ella, who after a month still has not been claimed."

"Which one of her parents is at home," Thalia asked and it made sense. They were trying to figure out if my parent was a god or a goddess.

"Both," I said and everyone just stared at me.

"Did either of your parents remarry?" Percy asked. "You may not even remember because it was too long ago."

"No," I said. "Neither of them has ever been married before. They would have told me. I have aunts and uncles and grandparents on both side, I would know if it wasn't real."

"Yet you wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't," Chiron said wisely. "One of your parents is a god or goddess, sometimes the mist can be a powerful thing."

I didn't like that they were all poking holes in my family tree. All I wanted was to return to capture the flag and have them leave me alone.

"Why are you wearing that hat?"

It was an odd question and it came from Nico. I reached up and felt that the green cap had returned to my head without me even realizing it. Percy and Chiron seemed to notice it too.

"That is odd," Chiron said. "You weren't wearing it a few minutes ago."

"Yes I was," I began to say but then I realized I hadn't. Percy wouldn't have seen the hairpin if I had been wearing a hat.

Nico suddenly looked very sick. He looked at the hat like he wanted to rip it off my head and I didn't know why. Dark shadows started to form around him.

"Give me my mythomagic figure back," he demanded and snatched it from Chiron's hand. That's when I realized. The supposed viking helmet the figurine was wearing was the helm of darkness. This was Hades, I realized, Nico's father.

"I don't know what to make of this," Chiron said and buried his face in his hands. "You all can go back to your capture the flag game and I'll think about it some more."

I felt bad leaving Nico. He was almost completely covered in blackness now and as I blinked he was gone like he'd completely melted into the shadows. I was frustrated that nobody would tell me what any of this meant. As I returned to capture the flag, everyone gave me mean looks for making them wait so long. On Thalia's signal the game began and I found myself racing through the woods with Maggie and Lucas on my side. Neither of them had had time to ask me what had happened so as we picked up speed I gave them the short version.

"That figurine you showed us this morning was Hades?" Maggie asked.

Before I could reply we were ambushed by two of the hunters. I drew my sword and used defence only as the shot us with their bows from high up in the trees.

"This is impossible," Lucas called. "They're too high, we can't hit them.

A flaming arrow fell to the ground and exploded near my feet sending my backwards. Just then another huntress took Maggie from behind and I managed to worm myself behind and disarm her. The two other huntresses jumped from the trees to aid her and Maggie, Lucas and I surrounded them. We had them cornered until the each shot arrows making Maggie and I step out of the way. Lucas gave us the signal to run but it was too late. An arrow pierced the air right near my shoulder and I felt something singe me arm. All three of the huntresses took to the tree and started shooting flaming arrows at us. We ran towards the flag, even though the fire didn't burn Lucas the arrows were still a danger. The flag was in sight we could just about reach it.

Maggie held out her hand and touched the flagpole. Just then an arrow whizzed by and it Maggie hadn't been wearing a wrist guard her arm may have been shish kabobed. Maggie pulled back her arm in surprise and I knew it was up to me. I grabbed the flag and pulled with all my might as I lifted it out of the ground. Lucas used his shield to deflect any flaming arrows from coming my way but his shield became to heavy and he was forced to drop it.

My heart was pounding just as my feet pounded the earth. I was running with all my strength and Lucas had fallen too far behind.

"It's Ella!" I heard a camper cry out. "She's going to win the flag for Hermes!"

Twenty paces I was almost there. Every muscle in my ached. Then, I crossed the boundary and collapse. My cabin rushed over to raise me on their shoulders but stopped a few feet away. There was a collection of gasps as more people rushed over to see what had happened. I stood, every muscle in my body aching and picked up the flag. Just as customary, the flag was changing into the winning cabin's symbol but instead of the winged shoes as was Hermes Cabin the flag took a new shape, a skull.

Just then not just the demigods but the Hunters of Artemis that had also broken through gasped. Chiron was racing towards me and I didn't know why.

"Ella," Maggie said. She sounded amazed but also scarred. "Look up."

I did and above me there was a glowing holographic silver moon. Every looked from the skull flag to the glowing moon. Finally Chiron knelt and so did the rest of the camp.

"All hail the daughter of Hades," he said.

Then as if things could get any weirder they did. A wind blew from nowhere and my hair unraveled from it's braid. This time I felt the green hat appear on my head and I was suddenly in the silver hunting outfit that the Hunters of Artemis wore.

Chiron's eyes seemed to sadden and I saw Percy, Annabeth and Thalia all gawk at me. No one said anything for a while, not even me. I was too stunned. Then at last Chiron spoke.

"Someone should tell Mr. di Angelo that his sister Bianca is alive."


	10. I Forget Everyone

Chapter Ten

At that very moment, my whole life changed. I wanted to cry because my father was the lord of the dead. Not parties, not archery, not oceans or skies or even sleep, my dad was the god of the underworld. Then I wanted to cry because I felt bad for crying, everything was too mixed up and I wanted my father to like me. Bianca, I felt like I'd heard that name before. It was the name of the girl Lucas had told me about, Nico's real sister, the daughter of Hades that had died three years ago. Why did Chiron call me that? Was it because I looked like her? Maybe having my hair down and wearing the green cap reminded people or her, but there's now way I could actually be her.

I watched almost in a daze as some of the bravest demigods began to fall apart before me. Nothing prepared me for seeing Nico. He took one look at me and turned his back. I saw Percy rush after him and I couldn't help feeling guilty for bringing so much sadness. This was suppose to be a happy moment. I'd won capture the flag, I should have glory right now, not sorrow. Then I realized Hades hadn't even claimed me. The only reason they knew I was the daughter of Hades was because the flag had changed. Artemis had done the rest.

"But how is that possible," Thalia said. "Bianca died three years ago. Percy saw her."

Just then something even more horrific happened. It started out as what looked like a shooting star but soon looked more like an asteroid falling to the earth. I was just about to scream and duck for cover when the asteroid because sparkling light and the ghostly form of a girl appeared. All of the huntresses knelt before her.

"Rise my sisters," the girl said. "You have served our mistress well."

"Zoe," Thalia breathed.

Then I remembered, this was the girl Percy had told me about, the original owner of Riptide. She was a star.

"Ella," she said turning to me. "I am sorry for your trouble. When thy chose to be reborn in the underworld I made sure thy were reborn to a wonderful family."

I didn't know what she was talking about. I'd never died, so how could I be reborn?

"The trouble was," Zoe continued. "We still needed you. When thy twas in your first life you spent time at the Lotus Casino. Though they did not realize it the hotel leaves room for the years to be stolen back that you lost. When thy twas born again you really went back in time and I was able to manipulate it so that you'd be about the same age that you were when you died the first time, thirteen."  
I stared at the ghost unable to believe what I was hearing. It didn't even make sense.

"It takes unbelievable power to come down here Ella so please try to understand," Zoe, the star said. "Heed my words, the stars are falling, and soon I will too. If the quest is not given soon Acras will tear apart the sky. Remember, it is not often that a hero receives a second chance. Use it wisely."

Then Zoe began to fade.

"Farewell my sisters," she called and then turned back to me. "When the time comes to chose, you are as free as anyone, we will not hold you to your previous commitment."

Then Zoe was gone.

The whole camp broke into madness. Some of the Hunters were shedding tears and others were just gaping at me. The people that knew Bianca were trying to come up to me and touch me to see if I was real but Percy held them back. I could tell he was trying not to look at me. How had this all happened?

"Get away from her!" Lucas suddenly yelled and everyone froze. He and Maggie stepped forward and grabbed my right and left hand, squeezing them tight. I knew they were trying to make me feel better and get me out of there but it made everything worse.

"Look," Annabeth said. "The Dove and the Forge will rise again," she quoted. "If I'm not mistaken, Maggie is the daughter of Aphrodite and Lucas is the son of Hephaestus."

"Ella is the one who long was sought," Thalia said. She wouldn't meet my eye either.

Lucas, Maggie and I stared at each other in amazement as well as concern. I wasn't ready to go on a quest. I wasn't ready for any of this. Bianca di Angelo may have been a hero but I sure wasn't. It was all too fast.

Someone grabbed my hair and pulled on it, making me recoil and more people started to close in on me. People who claimed they knew me started saying random things, apologizing for things I never had heard of. They tried to hand me things and make me remember them but in the almost darkness I could make out only torchlit faces.

"Enough," Lucas said and fire shot out of his hand. He drew a circle around us and the crowd so they were forced to back up.

"Careful," Leo said, he'd made his way over as soon as he spotted the fire.

"Let them through," said Chiron and forced campers to make a path for Lucas, Maggie and I to walk through. As I did I spotted the leaders of camp, the bravest demigods I'd ever seen, refusing to look me in the eye or rather looking to the spot directly to my left. It was agonizing.

As soon as I made it out of the woods I took off running as far away as I could leaving even Lucas and Maggie behind. It was too much to face anyone I just wanted a place where I could be alone.

I found a moonlit rock overlooking the sea as far away from everyone else as I could possibly be without leaving the borders. Instead of sitting on the overlooking rock I hid in the shadow under it where the ocean lapped at my feet. I sat there for what felt like an hour but what was more like ten minutes trying to forget everything that had just happened and focus on the rise and fall of the tide. It was a long time before anyone found me.

"Hey," Lucas said, as he ducked under the rock with me. My hiding place had been discovered. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said, even though I wasn't. "Thanks for saving me from those guys back there," I said to fill the silence.

"That's what friends are for," Lucas said. "I probably shouldn't have used fire though, sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare everyone."

"Where's Maggie?" I asked.

"Still looking for you I guess," Lucas said. "We split up a few minutes ago."

There was a long pause where Lucas and I just stared at the huge moon, a full moon I realized.

"Do you think we're really part of the prophecy?" I asked finally.

Now that I'd had some cool down time it was time to start thinking critically and figure out where to go from there.

Lucas shifted uncomfortably. "Well I don't know about me. There are a lot tougher kids in Hephaestus cabin that would be better qualified, but you."

"You mean Bianca," I said and immediately regretted it.

"I don't see you as a different person you know," Lucas said. "You don't have to think that. Heck I could be some random reborn person and not even know it. It's not your fault you're... her."

I was glad Lucas still saw the real me. My cabin mates, or rather my former cabin mates might never talk to me again. Speaking of which I didn't know where I was suppose to sleep that night. I knew there was no way I was ever stepping foot in the Hades cabin, it was too spooky and I was convinced those where human bones that made up the archway. Not to mention there was Nico that I had to avoid. Now he hated my guts for something I didn't even do. I didn't want to be his sister and he probably didn't want me either. Apparently Bianca use to be older than him but now he was the oldest sibling at fourteen. That's when I remembered something Lucas had said; children of Hades often have tragic lives.

I didn't know if I would last through the week as a child of Hades.


	11. I Meet the People that Knew Me

Chapter Eleven:

Maggie found me and we had a conversation along the same lines as the one I'd had with Lucas. It was dark and past curfew so she snuck me into the Aphrodite cabin and let me crash in her bunk, kind of like a sleepover. I couldn't believe the last sleepover I'd had I hadn't even known about the whole demigod world. A month and a half ago I was just a normal girl in middle school now I was Bianca di Angelo, the daughter of Hades Lord of the Dead.

I didn't sleep well. Horribly in fact, I didn't know demigods had such vivid dreams, or nightmares in my case. My nightmare showed me Nico, but he looked a lot younger, maybe ten or eleven, three years ago. He was standing over a grave throwing chicken nuggets into it and a Coke. Something was standing next to him but I couldn't figure out exactly what it was, a ghost maybe. Nico looked horrible, like he hadn't slept in a week. Souls began to pour into the scene and Nico let them eat from the grave of happy meals. I was so heart broken watching him work wearily through the night and it only got worse when I heard what he was saying. Nico was looking for me, not me, Bianca. He wanted to talk to her so badly and was willing to do anything to find her. I hoped this was only a nightmare and Nico had never really done any of this.

The scene changed and Nico was fighting Percy Jackson on what looked like a ranch. This time I couldn't hear anything they were saying but they stopped suddenly because of something. Then, without meaning to I glided over to them like a ghost and felt myself begin to disappear almost instantly. I said something I mean Bianca said something because I realized that's who I was. Nico and Percy could both see me but even after I said something the memory became more and more vague. The scene changed again to more horrible scenes of Nico searching for Bianca everywhere so that it started to feel like deja vu, like I'd watching this all before but a very long time ago.

I awoke feeling very depressed. I'd had a brother who only wanted to talk to me one more time. It was horrible trying to push down the dream before I awoke any of the others. My watch said it was 6am and I knew the Aphrodite kids didn't wake until 8 when breakfast started even though most other cabins got up earlier. I realized I was still wearing the hunter of Artemis gear from last night since I'd been too tired to take it off and so I strapped my sword to my waist, put my hair up in a ponytail and snuck out of the Aphrodite cabin.

Some of the other cabins were up doing some early morning training. The Demeter cabin was doing their morning yoga and I could hear the Apollo kids shooting arrows in the nearby archery range. It was just my luck that at that moment the Hermes cabin came out from across the commons. Mary and Georgia came up to me and asked if I'd stayed in the Hades cabin that night.

"No, it gives me the creeps," I explained. I was glad their first question didn't have anything to do with weather I remembered them or not. I had a feeling that would be what most people asked.

I was surprised that the Hermes cabin welcomed me back so quickly. Even Travis and Connor Stoll who had known Bianca when she was alive wanted me to stay with them. Now that I was claimed I felt stupid for requesting it for so long. I didn't want to sit at the Hades table at breakfast and after my dreams from last night didn't feel like I'd have the heart face Nico. Instead it was one of the Hunters that welcomed me to their table, Thalia.

I was invited to sit with them but welcome I soon found out was not the right word. The hunters regarded me coldly and mostly talked about seeing Zoe last night. Some of them asked me if I remembered them but my answer was the same answer I was going to give every one. No. No I didn't remember anyone and I didn't want to. I had my own life and my own memories. I didn't want Bianca's even if I was still her. At first I'd wanted to be a huntress but now I felt like doing everything the opposite of Bianca. I wanted nothing to do with her and I wanted people to see me as a different person.

"You have the same personality," Thalia commented out of the blue. "Almost identical features."  
That was all that was said to me through the whole meal. I didn't know if I was going to go back to the Hunters or if they would even invite me back. Even if Bianca was a hunter I didn't know if that automatically made me one as well. No one had asked me about taking the oath yet since Artemis wasn't here but if I did it would mean no boys and eternal life. I wasn't even sure if I wanted that anymore in the first place. Lucas might not be allowed to even be my friend and would I ever get tired of living for ever? I would have to watch Lucas and Maggie age and die while I lived forever in some eternal girls club. Then there was Zoe. She made it sound like she was doing me a favor but was I to return it by joining the hunters. I didn't know if that what she'd wanted me to do. It was all too confusing.

Chiron rings the bell for camp activities to start and I'm caught up in a flurry of people passing by and lose my bearings. Soon I'm left alone in the dining pavilion with no cabin to escort me to my daily activities and no Nico to help me either. Where am I suppose to go? I can't go with the Aphrodite cabin, I think I've overstayed my welcome. Hermes might take me but I kind of just ignored them right after they welcomed me back. I'm not really a Hunter so I don't think the Hunters would want me to tag along with them so all that's left is Nico's cabin, my cabin. I don't know where Nico di Angelo spends his days. He doesn't participate in camp activities like the other cabins, mostly because he's always alone. I don't even know where to look for him.

I wandered aimlessly around camp feeling more and more lonely. Campers actually started looking at me and then running away like I've got some contagious virus. Sure they were eager, almost happy to see me at the beginning but now they realized I'm a dead girl, who's father is the god of the dead. That would creep even me out. I walked past the Demeter cabin as they were gardening the strawberry fields and some of the vines literally died as I passed. That's not the kind of thing I want to have happen. One of the little girls squeaked, the same one who I'd helped at the campfire not a week ago. Man, how does Nico cope?

I felt like I wasn't suppose to be wandering so free so I headed over to the archery range to see if I'd magically gotten better. No such luck. I can't even hit the white rings around the target anymore. Will Solace, the Apollo cabin counselor came over to aid me.

"It's okay," he said. "Archery isn't for everyone. Even me, the son of the archery god can't do it perfectly."

"I've seen you hit the bullseye from here," I said.

"From here sure," said Will. "Any kid from Apollo can, actually most campers from any cabin can. Sorry," he muttered. "Anyway, even though my skill is suppose to be archery because of my dad, I'm actually better at healing. Apollo was also the god of medicine."

"I don't need healing," I said defensively and immediately regret it.

Will smiles, a radiant but sad smile. "That's exactly what your brother told me," he said.

This time I don't resist. I don't resist to Will calling Nico di Angelo my brother. I don't know why but I feel like I owe it to him. Something had changed in me after seeing those horrible images of Nico searching for me, I mean Bianca. Ug, this is so complicated.

Will Solace is about fourteen and although I doubted it at first but is actually a really sweet guy. He's the first one I've met who speaks highly of Nico, I mean really highly, not like other people who cheerfully comment about his war efforts against Gaia and the Romans. He reminds me of the sun, if that makes sense. I don't really know why but if the sun had a human kid, it would look like Will. I could he was about to tell me tell me something about Leo but we were interrupted by Annabeth Chase.

"Can I speak to Ella privately Will?" Annabeth said and Will got up to leave.

Annabeth took a seat across from me on one of the picnic tables. She had on a serious expression and her stormy grey eyes looked like a rainstorm was brewing.

"I never knew her, well only actually met her for a brief second," Annabeth said as if she was trying to clear away a thick cloud in the air. It didn't really help.

"You've come to talk to me about the prophecy," I said because I'd half expected it all morning.

"Well yes," said Annabeth, an amusing smile playing on her lips. "You've been chosen."

"I didn't want to be chosen," I said darkly.

Annabeth sighs. "The fact of the matter is Ella, you don't choose your fate according to the greeks. The prophecy says you and Maggie and Lucas are suppose to go on the quest together. Believe me, it's not a bad thing. When I was younger I would have died if a prophecy commanded me to go anywhere. I mean of happiness," Annabeth said when she saw my expression.

"What am I suppose to do exactly?" I asked.

"You heard if best from Zoe, the stars are falling, we just need to find out what that means," said Annabeth.

"The oracle wasn't very descriptive," I commented pitifully.

I remember hearing the five lines of the prophecy and wondering exactly how someone was suppose to form a quest out of it. The next line had something to do with angry kids, or children born mad, I remembered.

"I don't know our next move just yet," Annabeth said. "I'm still strategizing our plan. I just think you and your friends should be on the look out, if anything were to happen."

Annabeth's words didn't bode well with me. She made it sound like any moment we could be attacked and it would be up to me to defend the entire camp. That's something I didn't think I'd ever be able to do. She fixed me with her grey stare and chills went down my spine. I suddenly realized why nobody ever wanted to cross Annabeth Chase.

I didn't see Maggie and Lucas again by dinner and by then I'd grown even more shut in and quiet. The day had gone by with more and more people avoiding me. Crowds would split as I walked through leaving me the only one going in the opposite directions. Rumors about me were going through camp, I could just tell. There were girls whispering who would turn away and pretend they hadn't been talking as soon as they saw my face, Bianca's face. Even soldiers I'd seen train and were as hard as a rock could be caught talking about me. I never learned what they were saying though.

When Maggie and Lucas approached me at first I was relieved to see them but as we sat in silence for a few tense moments I knew they'd heard the rumors too. I'd gone from normal teenage girl, to normal demigod to just about the weirdest thing to walk into Camp Half Blood and that was saying something. We hadn't even received food yet and already I was feeling uncomfortable. I didn't want to give a burnt offering to the gods or sit with Maggie and Lucas for much longer if they were going to keep looking at me. Lucas looked at least like he was trying to speak but Maggie I knew had been in the pit of gossip the entire day and had probably heard more twisted stories about me than anyone else. I got up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Lucas asked.

"Away," I said. "And don't come after me this time." And I meant it.

Over the course of the day I'd lost my Hunter's gear. One of the girls had actually taken and I mean ripped the silver jacket from me so now I was left with the black t shirt under it and black pants held up by a glittering silver belt. I'd left the green cap behind on purpose. When my hair was up it was easier to tell the difference between me and the girl from my dream vision last night. We didn't have the same face type, my eyes were more brown than black and our teeth were different...

My thoughts trailed off as my reflection flickered in the river. Yes I was by the river again, the same one that bordered the capture the flag game that had changed everything. The marsh reeds that seemed to grow by magic hid me well from intruders and dusk was falling over Half Blood Hill. I watched the minnows swim back and forth for a long time and the water rippled a lot below my cheeks. When I was finished crying, I rocked back on the heels and let the reeds surround me. Maybe I could sleep here for the night, and maybe I would if I wasn't so scared a monster might come out at any moment and eat me alive. Sometimes it would be nice to have Lucas as a guard ready to throw fireballs at who ever tried to hurt me.

I heard footsteps in the grass and recoiled, thinking a monster really had come out to hunt me but it was a person. Someone sat down in the reeds next to me without saying a word and with shock I realized it was Nico di Angelo. His face looked even more ghostly at dusk and was once again reminded of all those awful visions I had of him searching for me, doing everything he could yet I could never reply.

"I did it too you know," he said softly. Nico still wouldn't meet my gaze.

"Did what?" I asked.

"Ran away from everyone," he said solemnly. "I ran from Camp Half Blood and never made any friends because I couldn't bare to be rejected. We're children of Death and no matter how things change, nobody will ever treat you like an equal again. They're scared of us."

I wanted to whine and protest that Nico wasn't making me feel any better but that deep dark hole in me that was getting wider and wider knew he was right.

"I spent years living in my own," said Nico. "Years in isolation, I even went to Tartarus the most dangerous and isolated place in the world before I realized I needed people to help me."

"You seem so grown up now Nico," I said but immediately don't know why. It was like I was remembering something about Nico's behaviour in my old life, I mean Bianca's life. He had seemed so happy and childish always playing a silly card game but I didn't know why I ever thought that. There was no way Nico di Angelo was ever like that.

"You don't have to exile yourself," Nico said. "You can't help being who you are... and what you are."

This seemed especially hard for Nico to say and sounded more like he was saying it to himself more than to me.

"Children of Hades have tragic lives," I murmured, remembering that line from somewhere.

Nico met my eye. "It's true you know," he said. "My own father told me that. Our father," he corrected.

There was an odd silence as the sun lowered even more into the earth.

"I can tell you don't see her," I said because the topic had been sitting over us for too long. "You don't see her in me."

"No," said Nico simply. "I don't. You're just Ella to me."

His face seemed to calm when he said this, almost like it was a fall back reflex when he shut down his thoughts so no one could read them.

"Come with me to the Hades Cabin," he said after a we'd spent time silently tossing pebbles into the river.

Nico offered me a hand to help me up which I took. It was ice cold and very pale but comforting all the same. As we walked through camp we took the shadows so no one could see us in the dusk and Nico lead me to the Hades Cabin. It was black as I expected and decorated with creepy animal bones, or at least I hoped they were animal bones. Green fire burned in the lanterns decorating the patio and the screen door banged open as we walked inside. Nico turned on the lights revealing a small house more than a cabin. Since there were only four beds, the cabin kind of went off in four different directions so there weren't really doors but there were four three walled sections with beds built into the floor so that you couldn't put anything under them. A great bone chandelier hung from the ceiling and there was a very bookshelves but other than that the cabin was rather bare. It hardly looked like Nico had unpacked.

"I should have brought you here last night," Nico said, looking ashamed. "It was just," he breathed, "a lot to take in."

"I understand," I said and dropped heavily on to one of the beds. It was a longer fall than I calculated.

I spent my first night in the Hades cabin and for the first time since I'd gotten here, I felt at home.


End file.
